The next game-changing Internet startup might come from Ghana.
“There are smart people all over the world, and one asset that Africa has is its people. It has a young and growing population,” says Ylva Strander, former managing director of the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) in Accra, Ghana.
MEST -- a comprehensive support program focused on developing software entrepreneurs in Ghana -- is an initiative of the Meltwater Group, a SaaS company based in San Francisco. MEST is funded by the Meltwater Group’s non-profit arm, the Meltwater Foundation.
The unique program at MEST consists of three phases:
Training. A two-year full-time paid training program in commercial software development and entrepreneurship
Incubation. One- to two-year incubation of business ideas, along with seed funding
Mentoring. Support from international executives and other entrepreneurs
Since the program’s inception just two years ago, eight companies have graduated from the training phase and have been accepted to the incubator, targeting customers across Ghana, other parts of Africa, and the world.
The startups include the following:
NandiMobile -- involved in customer service and marketing solutions via mobile Web across Africa (winner of the the “Best Business” award at the international LAUNCH Conference in San Francisco in March 2011)
RetailTower
-- focused on software solutions for online retailers
ArtoConnect -- offering online promotions management for retailers, with an initial focus on British college students
Leti Games -- specializing in online role-playing games designed for all levels of mobile gamers worldwide
“[Meltwater’s] founder had this idea for a long time to transfer knowledge to others,” Strander told me. The foundation decided to focus its efforts on Africa, seeing it as an area that needed the most assistance.
“We chose Ghana for several reasons: It’s an English-speaking country; the educational sector is highly regarded, with about 200,000 university students; and there is an upper-middle class that is highly educated.”
Another factor was location. Ghana, in West Africa, is developing into an air hub, with regular flights to Europe, the US, and the rest of the continent. The nation is just a six-hour flight to London and an 11-hour trip to Washington -- an important consideration when bringing in guest speakers and mentors.
Ghana recently struck oil, which has added to its interest to the international community.
But infrastructure and entrepreneur support in Ghana have a long way to go.
“The universities in Ghana are under-resourced, so they are not really able to complete their mandate of training the typical graduate who can critically think on his or her feet. MEST… empowers us to be our own managers,” says Edward Amartey-Tagoe, co-founder of NandiMobilie.
MEST also supplements, in a small way, Ghana’s demand for online access, providing modern tech facilities along with precious free and reliable Internet access for entrepreneurs.
“The computer labs in our [universities] can only sit about 50 at a time, yet there are more than 1,000 students studying some IT related course,” Amartey-Tagoe notes.
Ghana has about 10 percent Internet penetration, mostly via mobile Web. More than 77 percent of Ghanaians own or have access to cellphones, according to a recent report, and the use of Web-enabled phones has been growing steadily.
Similar in focus to MEST is year-old Mobile Web Ghana, a joint project of the World Wide Web Foundation and Vodaphone. The goal of the project is to promote mobile technology startups by providing a mobile training lab and instruction, by local organizations to local entrepreneurs. Three three-week training sessions have already been held; as a result, 16 business concepts are in various stages of development.
“The beauty of the software industry is that you can start a company anywhere,” says Strander. “A couple of smart people, Internet access, a good idea -- and you can get pretty far.”
— Deborah Nason is a freelance writer based in Connecticut.
@abdlah i will keep you updated as regards cloudcamp events, though yet to fix dates for Ghana and Ivory Coast. We are still seeking sponsors for the events anyway. Send message to me - wales.baky@gmail.com
@Deborah, thanks. IT giants like Microsoft, Cisco and IBM have offices in few Africa nations. But their business operations only limited to marketing unlike in Europe, Middle East and APAC and US where their research laboratories and technical centers contributing in grooming of local expertise. Though, lack of such operations partly shouldered on points highlighted previously - non-supportive from government of the lands.
With companies like Vodafone, Ericsson and few others are doing fine with full support of government, i learnt. And besides, a Ghanian friend of mine , who just concluded his PhD research programme(government sponsored) in UK said government is willing to provide full backing to foreign companies ready to develop the region.
@ Wale, I am pleased to know that I am not alone in identifying lack of government support as a major culprit in the realization of the true potential of Africa with regard to IT.
The recent development where companies like Ericsson develop support centers is helpful, but we need local consciousness and drive as to what we are missing so that positive effort would be put into developing the appropriate attitude needed to unleash the latent potential of IT on the continent.
I will like to know when your program would be in Ghana as this is not clear from your web site.
@Wale. Thank you for this additional information. You said:
"private firms are contributing and pushing the sector foward. Late last year, Ericsson Telecommunication equipment manufacturer commissioned its Technical Support Center in Accra, that already sent a wake call to the government of Ghana."
@abdlah, you have correctely pin-pointed the major drawback to technology development in Ghana and Africa as a whole - government insensitivity to expedite progressive development in information and communication technology.
Meanwhile, quiet few private firms are contributing and pushing the sector foward. Late last year, Ericsson Telecommunication equipment manufacturer commissioned its Technical Support Center in Accra, that already sent a wake-up call to the government of Ghana. Am hopeful it will.
In addition, am part of Cloudcamp, leading co-organizer for cloud based group organizing unconference event educating, promoting and creating awareness on adoption of cloud computing across West-Africa subregion. Cloudcamp was 1st held in Africa, Lagos Nigeria in 2011. And we are planning similar events in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt all in Nigeria and Accra( Ghana), Abidjan(Ivory Coast) this year.
I think, development of infrastructure in Africa - WORK IN PROGRESS...
Introducing American Idol . . I mean American Startup. "Startup World" Video Hostess Hermione Way . . "Hi I've been involved in the technology industry about four years now and I absolutely love it."
Ghana can have a bright future so far as the IT indusry is concerned if well planned development programs designed to create the necessary enabling environment for industry stake holders is created.
Malaysia made a statement of the desire to develop their IT industry by creating their version of Silicon Valley in Cyberjaya as part of its MultiMedia Super Corridor. Ghana has nothing close to this and there lies the lack of foresight by the Government and to an extent by private industry - though some in the private industry do have the vision but are cash strapped.
Ghana could definitely mimic India and Malaysia on how it they have developed their IT potential but we do need a well planned concerted effort by stakeholders.
In your comment you stated that "I am fully aware of the prevailing university conditions and there is no way we can expect the University to produce the next generation of entrepreneurs".
You will be surprised by how enterprising our youth are at maximizing the little we have. Yes, the universities are not that well resourced but that does not necessarily limit our students potential as there are other environments, like the one created by MEST that help them develop their skills.
I have worked and I am working with some of the students that have come out of our universities and their enthusiasm to learn and to be the next generation leaders is impressive. Some of them are creating very good work.
So though our universities are poorly resourced, our general environment is not so, so the serious ones who do not allow educational system to limit them (by THINKING BIG) are meeting the challenges head on.
However, the government and more especially private enterprise needs to do more to leverage the human capital in Ghana to realize the true IT potential in Ghana and the sub-region.
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